Cutting down the banana tree

Yesterday evening I decided it was time to cut down the Zebrine Banana tree! We were expecting our first hard freeze, the pond this morning had ice covering half of it. This dwarf banana is not supposed to be hardy in our area, zone 7.

Here is the banana before I cut it down in the weedy patch that just goes crazy during the heat of the summer. Wish I could make it a 3 season garden at least, instead of just a spring garden.

The stump shown here is at least 5 inches in diameter. The trunk and leaves must have weighted 25-30 pounds when I carried it to the brush pile. So easy to cut I was amazed, two strokes and it was done.This was planted from a 1 gallon pot in May!

I filled a recycling container with leaves and set it over the stump, then I added more leaves around it. Not sure if I killed it or saved it, time will tell I guess.

Our house and dried up pond taken last evening. See the dried up Johnson Grass, that is usually in the water. Another out of control plant as you can see. The cold frames are seen on the left of this image.

Fall or springtime?

Meg saw an Eastern Redbud tree in full bloom last week. I found these snowdrops in Chapel Hill at Coker Arboretum on Sunday. Ok isn't there a fall blooming snowdrop?

Remember the Golden Fragrance Muscari I planted last fall? Well I planted 10 muscari plants and right now I have 10 sets of 3-4 inches of leaves coming up.

Above is a photo from Saturday of our Zebrine Banana tree. We have had some near frosts thus far. I'm thinking the first freeze I'll cut it down and place straw over it and then a huge plastic tub over that to protect it from the winter. Hard to believe in May this plant was in a gallon pot., those upper leaves are at least 3 foot long perhaps a meter long.

This is an hybrid tea rose called Rio Samba from the rose circle at Duke Gardens last week.

Does this not remind you of a funny little guy jumping? From our garden the Rosebud Saliva.

So far this is the best fall color photo I have taken in our parts this fall. The pond at historic Ayr Mont in Hillsborough, NC

Durham Farmers Market

Over the years the Durham Farmers Market has grown quite a bit. Every year seems better and busier than the last. I visited it today at 10am a bit late but still a lot of goodies to be had.  Anyway I wanted to share some photos I took at the market today.

Above is Bluebird Meadows. That is Stuart in the front and Alice in the back. I read their blog and it is in my side bar. They had as usual an amazing display. I see them fairly often as they are living at the bottom of our road while the house on their farm is being built. Below is a close up of some of the produce at the Bluebird Meadows Booth.

Another local farm we buy from is Tim and Hilga's Four Leaf Farm which is down the street only a 1/3 mile from here. Some of those peppers are right now in our fridge!

Here is a display from another booth of squash, okra, beans and cherry tomatoes. Will be eating some of those squash and cucumbers not shown in this photo.

Just when you think tomatoes are about gone!

Getting as photo of this corn from Brinkley Farms was dangerous. The corn was moving quick. One of the main reasons I like going to the farmers markets is you just can not get fresh corn like this at the grocery store.

Good old North Carolina peaches! No Georgia or South Carolina peaches here, the market requires all produce to be local produce.

Now from our garden

We now have gourds! There are 4 of these 4 inch (so far) gourds and 4 more of the small ones like in the lower center of the photo.

Our Zebrine Banana tree is still growing strong, now nearly as tall as me with leaves over 3 foot long (one meter).

Black Swallowtail news! Megs classroom as of Thursday had 12 chrysalis from Wednesday and Thursday and continues to have more babies from the fennel cutting she is bringing in. Needless to say the second graders all of them are watching with both eyes open.

We are running out of fennel. Usually around here a good part of the caterpillars get eaten by wildlife such as Praying Mantises. I tend to not interfere as part of being a wildlife photographer is letting nature take its own course.

Our Zebrine Banana tree

Here is it just after planting the one gallon tree in the front garden. It is a Zebrine Banana tree, supposedly a dwarf banana and not hardy in our area, so I plan on digging it up in the late fall.

May 14th
It took a little while to get used to the heat and dry conditions here, then it took off.

Then by June 18th it started to really take off.

Here we are on July 1.

Now on July 8th! Growing new leaves every 4-5 days, these leaves are over 2 foot long.

June 11 still growing. The phlox in the background and Mountain Mint in the foreground.

Now from today July 18th.Just 2 months and few days after planting the one gallon plant. See at the base of the lighter green leaf another new leaf. What can I say I enjoy this plant a great deal. Although I'm not sure how big it'll be in another 2 months or 4 months when I have to dig it out of the garden to protect it from winter. BTW it already has a baby plant at the base!

Things that happened on the first of May

Busy weekend! Meg's school had the Strawberry Festival yesterday. We stayed at her booth all day except for a short visit to the Durham Farmers Market. Nearly 90 yesterday and hotter today.

Well the first of May brought us a lot of new things for the year. The first Sugar Snap Pea bloom, Wood Thrush and Great Crested Flycatcher calls, baby Preying Mantis and 9 Pond Lily blooms.

This iris I bought at least 10 years ago from the iris lady at the Raleigh Farmers Market, I used to know the name and would recognize it if someone knows it? We have three stalks covered in blooms right now.

The Siberian Iris below was another first of May and my first ever seedling to bloom here to my knowledge. Iris seedlings appear here and there in the garden, it takes years for them to mature enough to flower.

Here is our first banana tree, a Zebrine Banana got it at the Durham Garden Center for $7 just could not pass it up. I always wanted a Blood Banana and this looks a lot like a blood. That upper leaf opened since I planted it last weekend.

Her is a new planter box we hung on the deck. It has Calibrachoa Caberet Hot Pink, Calibrachoa Million Bells Ultra Purple and Petunias Black Velvet. The Black Velvet have some black with yellow blooms and some all black blooms, very cool if you ask me.

Here is the Foxtail Lily I planted last fall from Brent and Becky's. Supposed to be 6 ft tall we barely managed 30 inches. Looks like it'll be years before we get some spectacular shows from this one.

Here is one of the two snapdragons we planted last spring. Very impressive display for what I always considered an annual.

Clematis henryii below. It is likely 12 or 13 years old and right now has about 60+ blooms. I think it did better last year, it looks great just the same.

Here is a peony that was given to us last fall, wow!

Wood Sorrel form the edge of the yard, grows where it wants too. Not sure why some of it has this reddish tint to it and others are just green. Both the reddish and green grown together in the same places.